France has accused Iran of carrying out cyber-attacks that caused refrigerators and freezers in hundreds of supermarkets across the country to heat up, spoiling food worth millions of euros.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the attack was carried out by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
He described it as “unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression”, adding that France would push for sanctions at the European level against those responsible.
The attack occurred last month after hackers gained control of the software used to regulate the temperatures of supermarket refrigeration units.
More than 100 Coopérative U supermarkets were affected, alongside 180 stores operated by Intermarché and its Netto brand. In some locations, refrigerator temperatures reportedly rose to 50C overnight.
Other major retailers, including Carrefour, Monoprix and E.Leclerc, were also affected. The hackers reportedly exploited software supplied by Danish engineering company Danfoss, which allows supermarkets to manage refrigeration units remotely.
Iran has yet to respond to the allegations.
Meanwhile, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Monday that an investigation had been opened into the head of an offensive cyber unit linked to the IRGC and two of his deputies.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau identified the unit as Shahid Kaveh, which she said was affiliated with the IRGC’s electronic and cyber centre.
The development follows another wave of attacks last week, which affected more than 100 supermarkets across seven European countries.
Stores in Belgium and Luxembourg were among those hit, while smaller numbers of supermarkets in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland were also affected.
The French government has not explained how it linked the attacks to Iran. However, attributing cyber-attacks to specific groups is often difficult because hackers can conceal their locations and identities.
Although two Russian-aligned hacktivists claimed responsibility for the attacks on Wednesday, few experts believed their claims.
It is also unclear whether the attacks in France and the subsequent incidents across other European countries were connected.
